Brake-beam fulcrum



W. E. FOWLER, JR.

BRAKE BEAM FULCRUM. I

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23,4919.

, 1,389,041, Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

Fuzz. FIGJ.

8 gay/Ill) m Wlrucssss I 4 I I gypflttn/ yKWM? 6, gm. 14mg members of the beam;

' nected thereto at an angle, and the fulcrum UNITED, STA

.WILLIAM.

STEEL PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC.,

n. FOWLER, JR, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro LIBERTY A conrona'r'roN on NEW YORK.-

BRAKEB AM FULCRUM.

' Application eieann 23,

T 0 allwhom "it may concern Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM E. FOWLER,- Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Brake- Beam Fulcrums, of which the following is a specification. j 7

My invention relates to trussed brake beams for railway rolling stock and consists of a fulcrum strut for such beams which is eflicient, economical in manufacturing costs and easily applied to the other It is customary to form such struts of bars which are bent and twisted to accommodate the members of the beam, the levers which operate the beam and which are conins. This bending and twisting displaces the fibers of the bar so that they are no longer parallel with the strut axis and therefore donot ofier the maximumresistanceto compression stresses. Surplus metal is required to insure suiiicient strength after distortion and to compensate for the results of stretching and upsetting the bar. One of the objects of my invention is to eliminate these undesirable features. Another object is to secure the well known strength of a cylindrical column which permitsthe most economical disposition of material for a given weight.

Briefly, I adopt "rolled steel tubing as the chief element of my fulcrum strut and utilize it in the manner set forth below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is mainly a' plan,'but in part a section, of my strut showing parts of the compression and tension members of the brake beam to which the strut is applied; Fi 2 is a side View and section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 of Fig. 2.

The body 1 of the strut consists of a see tion of steel tubing one end of which is closed by a casting 2 which forms a saddle for the beam tension member 3. The body of saddle 2 is of the same diameter as the tubing and is traversed by a groove 4-. adapted to seat the tension member 3. A circular projection 5 extends within tubing 1 securing the saddle against transverse displacement. Projection 5 is undercut to- Specification of Letters Patent. t t Aug 30 1921;

1919. Serial l e/312,815.

ward its shouldered union with the saddle body which allows the end of tube 1 to be swaged down over the projection to prevent. longitudinal disassembly of the tube and saddle. ward relative'rotation of tube 1 and saddle 2 I provide tube 1 with a slot 1 and saddle 2 wlth a lug 5 to fit therein and positively locate the two members with respect to each other. I At the opposite end of tube 1, the metal is split and one half of the split portion is bent to form a channel recess 6 for the reception of the flange of a compression member of the beam, shown herein as a Tbar 7. I- prefer to cut away the other half of the spllt portion at 8. A clip 9 having a channel recess 10 corresponding to recess. 6 is provided for completely securing bar 7 in place. Clip 9 is assembled with the tube strut by a rivet 11 which grips the clip and tube and a spacing bushing 12. The portion which I cut away could, instead, be bent around member 7 similarly to portion 6 but the riveting of a separate clip is an easier operation.

Intermediate the ends of tube 1, I punch slots 13 on opposite sides of the tube for the accommodation of the brake lever and at right angles to the slots I provide holes 14: for the lever pin. In punching holes 14 instead of shearing the metal included in the circumference of the hole from the surrounding metal, I press it into the boss shape 15 thereby extending the wall of the hole' which forms the pin bearing surface. This enlargement of the bearing surface gives the area for the pin bearing required by the Master Car Builders standards without the addition of any extra parts such as are frequently used and a type of which are shown in United States Letters Patent 1,146,860 issued to me July 20, 1915.

The strut described herein is very cheap in material cost and requires slight labor expenditure to manufacture or apply to the other members of the beam. The strut only requires a length of standard tubing, a small and simple casting, a small forging, a bushing and a rivet. From compression member to tension member the fibers of the tube run parallel to the strut axis and to the line of stress produced by the other beam members under initial compression and under To resist any tendencies toservice loads. The lever slots are formed by shearing of the metal, not by twisting it and the disposition of the material forming the fulcrum pin holes permits the use of comparatively from the required area for the pin. The strut is adaquately locked against rotation relative to the other beam members. If other shapes are used for the compression member in place of the T bar illustrated, no material change in the form of the strut will be necessitated.

I claim 1. A strut for a trussed brake beam, formed substantially of wrought metal tubing and provided with a lever fulcrum between its ends.

2. A strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a section of wrought metal tubing provided with means at its opposite ends for securing the compression and tension members of the beam and adapted to fulcrum a brake lever between its ends.

3. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a length of wrought metal tubing which is provided with slotted passages for the beam lever and bearings for the lever fulcrum pin.

4. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, formed substantially of a wrought metal tube which has sections of its wall removed for the passage of the beam lever and sections of its wall displaced to form fulcrum pin bearing surfaces of greater length than the thickness of the tube wall.

5. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a wrought metal tube fitted at one end with a grooved saddle adapted to receive a beam tension member and at the opposite end with grooved shoulder adapted to receive a flanged compression member.

6. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a section of metal tubing split at one end with the split portion shaped to form bearing and retaining surfaces for a compression member of the beam.

7. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a metal tube one end of which is fitted with a tension member saddle having an undercut projection within said thin walls without departing tube, said tube being reduced about said undercut projection. V 7

' 8. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a metal tube one end of which is fitted with a metal saddle for a beam tension member, said end having a longitudinal slot and said saddle having 8. lug adapted to enter said slot when said tube and saddle are assembled.

9. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a rolled metal tube provided with'an. integral extension at one end bent to form a seat and grip for one side of a beam.member and a cooperating clip for the other side of said member secured to said tube.

10. A fulcrum strut for a trussed brake beam, comprising a length of rolled metal tubing having diametrically opposite portions of its wall removed to form brake lever slots and having diametrically opposite portions of its wall expressed to form cylindrical pin bearings of greater area than that which would be provided by punching through the normal thickness of the tube wall.

11. -A tubular strut for a trussed brake beam, adapted to receive a lever between its ends and formed substantially of fibrous metal with the fibers parallel to the strut axis substantially throughout the strut.

12. A strut of fibrous metal adapted to space the compression and tension members of a brake beam,.to provide for the fulcruming of a brake lever between its ends, and having the major portion of its fibers extending substantially from the beam compression member to the beam tension member without distortion.

13. A strut for a trussed brake beam, consisting of a fibrous metal tube having, be-

tween its ends, integral bearings for a lever fulcrum pin and slots which form a passage for a brake lever and having its fibers extending parallel with the tube'axis substantially from end to end except at saidslots and bearings.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my hand this 15th day of July, 1919.

WILLIAM E. FOWLER, JR. 

